Spike-the-musician travels a lot, especially in the warmer months. (Driving a full-size van, pulling a trailer, through mountains in winter ... less fun than you might think.)
Up until a year ago, we communicated randomly and rarely during these trips. He'd grab a moment at a pay phone on the side of the road, dial the 15,762 numbers required to use a calling card, and hope I was home to actually get the call. If I wasn't - and usually I wasn't - I'd come home to a voicemail message that I'd save until he got home again.
It worked just fine. No expectations on either side. Nice surprises every now and then when a phone rang and the two of us were on either end.
But pay phones are becoming increasingly hard to find. And the calling card program disappeared altogether. And our nephew got a full-keyboard phone that is perfect for texting. Ooohhh, wonderful technology! So we shamelessly imitated him, got a great texting-between-us plan, and now we're spoiled rotten, happily texting back and forth, no matter where either of us is.
It's great. Until his phone refuses to take a charge while he's on the road. And now he is away, no texting available, and we're back to phone calls whenever he happens to have a few spare minutes near a phone owned by a generous soul with a good long-distance plan.
I am crusty. So is he. A year ago, this would have been fine. Now we have tasted the perks of instant communication no matter where in the world either one of us is, and we like it. We demand it. *pounds fist for emphasis* It's our RIGHT!
Oh wait. That last bit may be over the top. After all, Christopher Columbus probably wasn't able to text home every 2 1/2 hours while he was out discovering new parts of the planet.
Still.
Sucks.
Stupid technology.
